Web Site Security

We never really talk about web site security.

Folks who are my clients already know: Once a quarter, I backup your web site’s database, update the software and plugins used within the site, then backup the database again. This manual process is one of the best ways (IMO THE best) to safely keep your site running smoothly.

But this last quarter, I had a rude awakening during updating with an issue I’ve never experienced before: the site had been hacked.

99% of Chad Austin Marketing and Media Design’s developed sites are using the WordPress construct. It’s currently the world’s most popular Content Management System (CMS) software, offering the most resources of any construct for web development on the planet.

This is a real threat.

But popularity means hackers are just around the corner, lurking. Switching CMS platforms will not keep you safe, either. Software – all software – is vulnerable.

When this happened I freaked out. First reason? These folks who were victim to this crime are great people. Second reason, the backups I did for this site had been hacked as well. The backup was a backup of the corrupted site. Third reason, this means it was billable time to fix and rebuild.

So I called my tech guys. They told me I offer security for any platform web site called “Site Lock.”

Oh? Another paid service?

I honestly was a little agitated. I don’t like to up-sell to any of my clients. After all, you already have to pay for, at least, yearly hosting and domain(s), sometimes email, too. Some even have Privacy on their domains. Now I have to tell them they need yet another service.

But one thing is for sure. Please look at this screenshot. Every client under Chad Austin Marketing and Media Design has within their web site an installed plugin called Activity Log. This plugin keeps track of any and all movements within a client’s site. The screen shot shows multiple hacking attempts, sometimes several times a day. And that’s just from hackers knocking on the ‘back door.’

My tech folks have said, “By not telling them about this security service you’re not helping to protect them. They can choose if they feel it’s necessary.”